Hidden talents II: re-engaging young people, the local offer

Identifying those in need Preventing young people falling through the gaps Matching training with local jobs Helping the hardest-to-reach into work Incentivising employers to take on young people Identifying those in need

It is difficult to identify which young people are most at risk of disengaging from work and learning, in order to prevent it happening. Any combination of different circumstances can lead to disengagement, including place, family experience, poverty, qualifications, or personal barriers like disability.

Over one million young people are not in work and learning, but beneath the headlines there is a growing number of seriously disengaged young people, some 260,000 have been out of work for over a year, doubling since 2008, and 100,000 for over two years, an increase of 168 per cent.

National approaches cannot identify which of the 360,000 young people in England who have been unemployed for six months are likely to fall into long periods of disengagement. Identifying those in need

Early identification and intervention is most likely to be local. Whatever the initial route, it is local services such as schools, councils, and community groups that are most likely to identify whether a young person is particularly at risk of disengaging, and to put into place services to prevent it.

Councils are implementing systems to identify young people at risk of disengaging. For instance Hertfordshire has reduced the number of young people ‘unknown’ to authorities to just 2.5 per cent. Lewisham’s innovative scheme gives targeted early support to the younger siblings of newly-disengaged teenagers, part of a wider strategy that has reduced disengagement by 25 per cent in one year. Preventing young people falling through the gaps

The system is fragmented, awash with well over 30 different national services and schemes that are not integrated or targeted around individuals. In low points of the economic cycle these services tend to benefit those closer to the employment market, young people with more complex barriers risk falling through the gaps.

A 16-year-old who is in full-time study and has one child can potentially receive support from 10 national schemes, with responsibility spanning five government departments. While an 18-year-old not in work or training can receive support from nine national schemes, and only two in common with the 16-year-old.

In Reading there are 193 different organisations trying to help young people, with no levers for the council or partners to bring provision together. Preventing young people falling through the gaps

Councils and their local partners are perfectly placed to target and join-up provision around the needs of individuals. This could include anything from drug and alcohol addiction to caring responsibilities. Councils should, therefore become the default commissioners of all reengagement programmes, in order to combine local and national services into single personalised packages that can have most success.

For instance, in London, the Tri-borough Whole Place Community Budget area has developed a joined-up model to tackling youth disengagement, estimated to save the exchequer £6-10 million a year. Matching training with local jobs

Too many young people are being trained for jobs that do not exist locally. This skills mismatch is frustrating for young people striving for work and employers who need qualified staff.

In England last year, 194,000 hairdressers were trained for just 18,000 jobs, while only 123,000 people were trained for 274,000 jobs in construction. There are massive variations across local economies. In Basildon 20 people were trained for every one job in hair and beauty.

For full statistics, including a local breakdown by council area, click here. Matching training with local jobs

Councils and local employers best understand the local skills need. They should be able to help determine the courses offered by colleges that are needed in the local economy, which are most likely to lead to jobs – and to combine this with quality careers advice.

A Sheffield City Region Skills for Growth and Employment Partnership will create at least 4,000 apprenticeships in three years by bringing together £24 million of existing government spending plus £6 – 12 million local authority investment, and £37 million from local employer investment.

The Greater Manchester Forecasting Model forecasts increased demand for higher level skills, indicating that of the 921,000 jobs due to be created over the next decade, half will require skills equivalent to at least NVQ level 3, and a quarter to NVQ level 4.

Essex County Council, in one year, created 1,250 apprenticeships targeted at specific local growth sectors, including marine, construction, and creative sectors. As a result a massive 70 per cent secured full time employment. Helping the hardest-to-reach into work

The Work Programme has got off to a slow start, in part driven by the performance of the economy being worse than expected. There is a risk that it will not deliver as well for young people with more complex barriers to employment. There is a huge opportunity to resolve this locally, not yet realised.

Only 3.4 per cent of young people helped by the Work Programme in its first year found sustained employment, less than 6,000 from 240,000 referrals to the scheme.

There are variations in performance between places reflecting differing local economic performance and the need to learn from well-performing areas, which councils are well placed to support. In West London 4.2 per cent of 18-24 year olds were helped into work, while just 2.4 per cent in East London, and only 1.4 per cent in Bristol. A new approach, which incentivises Work Programme providers and Jobcentre Plus to work with local authorities to co-design packages and local employment services and programmes for young people with the most complex barriers to employment, would deliver much better results for this group.

For instance Haringey has a strong record in helping most disengaged young people into work – the Haringey Guarantee scheme helped 357 long-term unemployed into work, 31 per cent of all people that received support.

Local authorities and Jobcentre Plus in Tees Valley have pooled funding to develop an innovative employment programme creating individual support packages for 400 pre-Work Programme people, linked to over 500 local employers. The scheme has already supported 80 people into work, ahead of target. Incentivising employers to take on young people

Wage subsidies offer young people a real wage for real work experience, a well proven way of increasing employment prospects. But all wage subsidy schemes have been troubled by low take up from employers and high levels of deadweight (ie helping fund jobs that would have been created anyway).

For instance, the Sixth Month Offer, which gave employers a cash incentive for taking on long-term unemployed only helped 8,000 young people. And up to 70 per cent of the New Deal jobs scheme would have been created anyway, without the subsidy.

The Youth Contract wage subsidy scheme, which pledges to provide 53,000 subsidies a year, is already proving difficult to claim. This has been recognised by the Government which has launched a campaign to encourage employer take up. Centralised tinkering of this kind is unlikely to increase take up and may increase deadweight. Incentivising employers to take on young people

A devolved approach, where councils can engage local employers and target schemes at growth sectors is proven to increase take up and reduce deadweight, and give more young people a quality opportunity likely to lead to sustained work.

Nottingham City Council, working closely with local employers, has established a Jobs Fund to create up to 400 jobs for young people – 150 have already been filled, well ahead of schedule.

Liverpool City Council used Future Jobs Fund money to build a major agreement with Jaguar Land Rover; where young people completing their six months were guaranteed an interview for a permanent job. Of the 120 young people on the scheme, 100 got permanent jobs, of which only two would have been given an interview independently of the scheme.